Unethical HSA Management

I am currently a support volunteer member of an elementary HSA organization. There are a lot of unethical things going on within the organization and need to be addressed immediately.

We are entering into our third year of operation and I've seen no progress what-so-ever! The first year the officers were appointed...that is fine, because there was no real big outcome from the foot work that was put out there. The second year some of the same officers kept their positions and some others rotated their positions with members from the previous year. Now that was a major flag for me! I questioned the positions being held, but being as though I was going through a High Risk Pregnancy I wasn't able to make some serious noise about the situation. Now although I was a hit and miss type of member last year I only got a small percentage of the information for the things that were occuring during the school year, but there were a few things that didn't slip under my radar close to the end of the school year. For instance, there was a LOT of money coming up missing from the pot, the bank account ended up closed in March, none of the proceeds went to anything that they were suppose to have been going to, and there was a LOT of disagreements circulating within the office but nobody was able to come to a conclusion for the disagreements. All of those issues had me shifting through this website searching for answers. I was unaware that I could post a question until today!

Now this school year I was allowed the opportunity to sit in on a couple of the meetings with the school principal! That there was a huge honor! I was able to gain more insight on what the program was suppose to actually be doing for the school, what wasn't being done for the school and so forth. In the initial meeting the principal was very austere about pushing forward with elections right away, because she too agreed that there were far too many unethical things going on within the organization. She felt as if the school was being swindled through all of the fundraisers and no proper accounting going on within the organization. She also stated that positions being held were being held in an illegal manner. So she place anothor parent and myself on the elections project! YAY...or so we thought! A week in a half later after she had us researching and compiling information for the elections and for this school year so calls us in for a second meeting. Things seemed to still be going along smoothly on everything that was put on the table in the first meeting despite the fact that there were two additional members who protested everything that the principal set forth. Now granted the two that were protesting were the same two who were left this school year from the previous two school years that were on the front line of the mayhem, the president and the treasurer! Now the prisident and the treasurer planned on rotating positions again this school year. So they was to be sure that those two positions are secure for them. The principal's final word on the situation was that we were going to go through with the elections as planned. So that is what the other parent and I continued to do. Two days later she, the principal, changed her mind! She decided to allow them to do things their way! Total shocker!

So now my question is...what is it as a parent that we, the two lonely parents, can do to make sure that this doesn't take place??? I would really rather not be a part of any of this chaos! I don't like the unethical behaviors. I don't like all of the fundraisers that were being done and nothing to show for it, but it seems like our two little voices are being drowned out by this non-sense!

You should try to get a copy of the by-laws and see what they say about the board seats and the apparent rotation issue.

Did you ask the principle why she changed her mind ? Have you tried at all to notify other parents about the missing money ? What about teachers ? The principle ?

Honestly, if you question their behavior and the missing money that strongly, you shouldn't be involved with the organization until it's cleared up. Keep trying to talk to people and get any information you can, attend a meeting and bring to the attention of all in attendance your concerns. But to be directly involved isn't necessarily the best option when there's not only unethical behavior, but missing money.

I also agree with the above. Resign your position immediately and start talking! A LOT, to anyone that will listen. Start asking open ended questions and suggest that parents not donate money until these questions are publicly addressed and answered. Also check with your local chapter governing body and start making noise with them too. Soon many questions will start to come at them that will need to be addressed. What these people forget is that none of this is possible without parent support and trust and if that isn't there, the whole thing crumbles. Your part is to question everything, demand explanations and not rest until you are satisfied.

Reply to must be anon

I have had personal experience similar to yours and I am still trying to effect some change in our PFC. I served on the Board for one year and at the end of that year I was finally able to obtain a copy of the organization's bylaws. They were awful! They state that there are NO members and that all power and decision making authority would be limited to the 9 Board members, board members appoint themselves as officers, make-up ridiculous "positions" so they can continue year after year to be the controlling voice and most disturbing, parents and teachers have absolutely no say with regards to the use of funds generated each year. The PFC now has hundreds of thousands of dollars in reserves(in bank accounts) and that is in no way what I as a parent of a student at this school intended for my yearly donations...especially since our teachers are saying they need tissues and pencils and markers and so on and so on. I am still outraged at the lack of an authoritative body to hold these individuals accountable. Although our school reports to have a "no tolerance policy" regarding bullies or bully-behavior, seems they allow it on a parent level. I was of course, asked to resign my position after exxpressing my concerns about current bylaws. Too bad, I wish you more luck than I have had.